Controller for hoisting apparatus



T. S. WATSON.

CONTROLLER FOR HOISTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR- 2 4, 1917.

1 ,358, 1 28, v Patented Nov. 9, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l wrrmwvsg WITIVEJUZ T T. S. WATSON.

CONTROLLER FOR HOISTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION HLED MAR. 24, 1917.

1,358,128, Patented Nov. 9, 1920.

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n KI Q Q Q 0 44-1: 0 O :E- Q 0 I" Mad/iv.

T. S. WATSON.

CONTROLLER FOR HOISTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24, 1917.

1,358,128. Patented Nov. 9,1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS S. WATSON, 01E MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

CONTROLLER FOR HOISTING- APPARATUS.

Application filed March 24, 1917. Serial No. 157,220.

'10 (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS S. VVA'rsoN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Milwaukee, in. the county of Milwaukee and State oi. Wisconsin, have invented new and useful improvements in Controllers for Hoisting Apparatus, of which the following 'is description, reference being had to the causing delay in the operation, or of the bucket opening and dropping its contents where they might cause damage or injury.

The present invention combines in a single drum controller the regulation of the hoisting motor for raising and lowering the bucket, the control 01'? a clutch for establishing a connection between the hoisting drum and the closing drum, the control of an electric brake for holding the holding drum against rotation, and the control of a slack niotor for accelerating the turning of the closing drum to take up the slack in the closing line while the bucket is being opened or lowered. The control of the slack motor, the

- clutch and the brake is such that their functions are automatically performed in the different positions of the controller for the various speeds of the hoisting motor in raising and lowering the bucket. A push button is provided on the handle of the controller for effecting the opening or closing of the clamshell bucket in one position or another of the controller handle, such push button afiecting the supply of current to the magnetic clutch and brake for this purpose. D

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in the. controller for hoisting apparatus as herein claimedand all equivalents. I p

Referring to the accompanying drawlngs,

in which like characters represent the same parts in difierent views: I

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a coal handling bridge such as is covered by my Patent. No. 1,220,8( )1, dated March 27, 1917, and Equ pped with the controller of thisinvenion.

Fig.2is a plan view of the carriage thereof with parts sectioned. I

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the various electrlcally controlled parts on the traveling carnage and their trolley connections with the controller; and, i

Fig. 4-. is a diagram showing the electrical connections of the controller for the hoistmg motor and including the features con stituting the present invention.

In these drawings 10 indicates a bridge structure of usual construction, and 11 the track thereof on which the bucket supporting truck or carriage 12 travels. The carriage is propelled by a racking motor 13 suitably positioned on the bridge structure and having a cable 14 wound around its drum with its two ends passing respectively around idle pulleys 15 at the opposite ends of the bridge and'connected with the ends of the-carriage.

'Mountedon the carriage 12 is a hoisting drum 16 and a closing druml? around which are wound the respective ends of a cable 18, the cable end depending from the hoisting drum 16 serving to suspend a clam-shell bucket 19, while the cable end depending from the closing drum 17 connects with the opening and closing. mechanism of such clam-shell bucket. The cable 18 after passing around the drrmis 16 and 17 extends in opposite directions in the line of travel of the carriage and around idle pulleys 20to a vertical guideway in which'a counterweight 21 travels, there being a pulley 22 on the counterweight receiving a loop of said cable 18 so that the clam-shell bucket is counterbalanced by the counterweight. For raising and lowering the clam-shell bucket provision is made for lowering and raising the counterweight, and as shown it consists of a hoisting motor 23 with a cable 24 wound around its drum passing around idle pulleys 25 at the top and bottom of the vertical guideway with its ends connected to the counterweight.

A cab 26 is suitably located'on the bridge purpose.

for the operator who controls the various motors by means of a switch'3l controlling the racking motor 13 to cause the carriage to travel back and forth and afull reverse drum controller 'for con'trollingthe operation of the hoisting motor 23 to cause the clam-shell bucket to'be raised'and lowered. Other electrical devices on the traveling carriage are also operated by this controller, communication being had therewith by means of suitable trolley connections shown in the diagram. Thus an electrical brake 27 has agearing connection 28 with the hoisting drum 16 and a small acceleratingmotor 29 has a gearing connection 30 with a large gear wheel 31 on the shaft of the closing drum 1?, while another large gear wheel 82 loosely mounted on the shaft of the holding drum and meshing'with the gear wheel 31 carries an electrical clutch 33 for coupling the holding dru1n16 to said gear wheel 32, thus directly gearing together the drums 16 and 17 by means of said gears 32 and 31. In operation the clam-shell bucket may be raised or lowered by the movements of the counterweight as previously explained, and as long as the holding drum remains geared to the closing drum both ends of the cable will move together so that the bucket remains opened or closed as the case may be. Furthermore, the electrical brake 27 will be effective for, holding the bucket in any position whether opened or closed, the gearing connection between the drums serving to make the brake effective for the closing drum as well as for the holding drum. The gearing connection between the drums may be rendered ineffective for this purpose, however, by releasing the magnetic clutch so that the magnetic brake is effective for the holding drum only, to give slack to the closing end of'the cable and permit the bucket to open when the magnetic brake is applied while the motor isrunning as if to lower the bu ket or to remove slack thereany suitable type, it is here shown as a series wound motorwith relay control as such is considered to be best adapted for the llluch of the diagram of Fig. l represents he relay control of the hoisting motor 23 which forms no part of the present invention etcep't in combination but such ILZHS are shown in order that the controller functions may be understood,.as the controller parts of the present invent on are combined with the controller parts for the relay control of hoisting motor 23. For convenience the relay control for hoisting motor 23 is indicated as a whole by the refer ence character 36, while the controller as a whole is indicated by the reference charactor 37, and the relay control of the car riage mechanism is indicated by the reference character 38. a

The line wires 39 and 40 are brought into the relay control system 36 through a suitable main switch ll from one side of which a wire 4L2 leads to one finger 43 of the controller 37, while the other side is connected by a wire 4:4: with the various relay switches to be operated by the movements of the controller for effecting the different motor con nections for three speeds forward and reverse. Gther fingers 4L5 of the controller by engaging their respective segments in the different positions of the controller handle establish circuits through the wires 46 leading therefrom to the various relays of the motor controlling system 36, as usual for closing the motor circuit by means of relay 47, for changing the direction of flow of current through the armature of the motor by means of relays 48, 49, 50 and 51, for rontrolling the shunt resistance around the armature of the motor by means of the relay 52 and for effecting the introduction and exclusion of resistance units in the motor circuit by means of relays 53, 54, 55 and v eration of the hoisting motor 23 are not es-;

sential to an understanding of the present invention, thesame being an ordinary and well-known system. of control and only being illustrated to show the association. and cooperation therewith of the controlling features constituting this invention. It may be sufiicient to note that the controller handle has three positions for regulating the speed of the motor in hoisting the clam-shell bucket and three positions for regulating the speed of the motor in lowering the same.

- In order to equip this motor control systerm for simultaneous and automatic control 7 of the trolley connected parts on the traveling carriage, whereby the opening and clos ing of the bucket is effected under any con ditions, four fingers 5(, 58, .59 and 60 are added to the controller. A push button 61, preferably located in the handle 85 of the controller, shown in dotted lines, is connected by a wire 62 with the finger 43 in directconnection with line wire 39 through the wire 42, while a wire'63' connects said push button with the controller finger 58. The push button 61, which is normally closed, serves to control the supply of current to the brake controlling finger 59 and theclutch controlling finger 60 in any or" the operative positions thereof, the contact ringj64 of the Lamina finger 58 being continuous so as to be engaged thereby in all positions of the con troller handle, while the segments 65 for finger 59 and the single segment 66 for finger 60 are electrically connected therewith in. the usual manner. Brake finger. 59 has-its contact segments 65 in position to be engaged thereby in any of the operative positions of the controller handle, but not in the neutral 7 or oil position while the clutch fingerGO has its single contact segment in position to be engaged thereby in the neutral. or oil position of the controller handle as well as in any of the positions for lowering the clamshell bucket, but not necessarily in the positions for raising the same. The accelerating motor finger 57 has its single contact segment 67 in position to be engaged thereby in any of the operative positions of the controller handle for lowering the clam-shell bucket and such contact segment is in electrical connection with the contact segments which elifect the control of the hoisting motor 23. Thus the current supply to the accelerating motor finger 57 is not dependent upon the push button 61 as with the fingers 5%).and 60 for the brake and clutch respectively.

The controller fingers 57, 59 and 60 are connected by wires 68, .69 andiO with the magnet windings of relays 71, 72 and 73 respectively, the other terminals of which magnet windings are connected in common to a ground wire 74L 7 Current for operating the accelerating motor, the brake and the clutch is brought to one terminal of each of the relay switches '71, 72 and 7 3 by a wire 75 from one side of the main switch 41 from the line wire 39, while the other side of main switch 41 from line wire l0 is grounded by a ground wire 7 6. The other terminal of accelerating Inotor relay switch 71 is connected by a wire 77 containing a resistance 78 and with a trolley wire 79 on which the trolley of the accelerating motor 29 travels. A wire 80 connects the other terminal of the brake relay switch 72 with a trolley wire Slon which the trolley of the brake QYtravels. A wire 82 connectstheotherterminal of the clutch relay switch 73 with a trolley wire 83 on which the trolley of the clutch 33 travels.

- The accelerating motor 29, the brake 27 and the clutch 33 have a common ground wire connection 84L.

In operation the movements of the eontroller handle 85 to raise or lower the clamshell bucket by means of the hoisting drum 23 at the same time effects the control of the accelerating motor, the brake and the clutch accordingly, the control of the accelerating motor 29'being independent of the push button 61 and causingsaid motor to operate in any position of the controller handle for loweringthe clam-shellbucket, but not in any positions for raising the bucket. The

It mustube understood that the opening and closing of the clam-shell bucket 19 depends upon the relative tension on the two ends of the cable 18 by which it is suspended. The cable end from the hoisting drum 16 is usually known as the holding line, .while the cable end from the closing drum 117 is known as the closing line. When the closing cable is under tension, as will normally. be the case because of the weight of the bucket being supported by'the cable 13 as a whole, the bucket remainsin its closed con: dition, but, upon the weight-or". the bucket being supported entirely or mainly from the holding line so that slack is produced in the closing line. the bucket opens automatically by the weight of its parts inthewellknown manner. The acceleratingmotor 29 is only a light motor'which tends to rotate the closing drum 1? at an increased speed during the opening of the bucket in order that the slack may be taken out of the main portionof the cable 13 and maintained'in the closing line. i

lVith the controller handle in the neutral or off position and the hoisting motor 23 therefore statonary, as when the loaded bucket is being conveyed by the carriage from one end of thebridge to the other, the bucket is held closed at a fixed elevation by the influence of the brake 27 which is set to prevent the turning of the'l'ioisting drum 16, and the influence ofthe clutch 33 which is also set, locking the closng drum 17 in gear with the hoisting drum so that it also is held by the brake against rotation. Then the bucket reaches the discharge position the push button 61 is depressed andthe controller handle is moved to a position as if to lower: the bucket. This causes the counterweightZl to rise, while the brake 2'? remains set, and the clutch is released and consequently slack is produced in the closing line which will permit the bucket to open and discharge its contents. The controller. handle is only held in the lowering position momentarily or until the bucket is open and then it is returned to the neutral position and the push button is released, leaving the bucket in its open condition with brake and clutch set while it is returned to the loading position. The controller is again moved to the lowering position, causing the open bucket to descend intothe hold of a vessel or into a pile of material and when the bucket. rests on themateriahthe controller handle is thrown to the hoisting position and the push button is'depressed which, by lowering the counterweight 21,

will first close the clam-shell bucket causing it to scoop up its load of material and then lift it. During the lowering of the bucket in its'open condition" the brake is released and the accelerating motor is operated while the bucket is being opened or lowered and the brake is always applied in the neutral position of the controller handle, the operation of the push button serving to apply the brake in any position of the controller whether the bucketis being raised or being lowered and serving to release the clutch to open the bucket when it is being lowered and to close the bucket when it is being raised. By this invention the control of the parts on the carriage is made automatic and the opening or closing of the bucket is effected by merely pressing the button 61 while the hoisting motor is operating to raise or lower the bucket. This simplifies the operation of the machine by the attendant, making it possible for him to operate the racking motor with one hand and the'hoist ing motor with the other and dispensing with thenecessity for the use of treadles or additional switches as heretofore.

What I claim as new and desire to secure 1 by Letters Patent isr associated with the motor controller for op eration therewith and a push button on the motor controller handle for opening the circuit through the brake and clutch controlling means. r i V 2. The combination. wltha' drum controller for regulating the speed and direc- -tion of a clam shell hoisting'motor, of a brake and clutch controlling means for the holding and closing drums comprising supplemental switch fingers and contact segments on the drum controller, and a separate switchfor opening controlling means.

5 3. The combination with a motor controller for controlling the speed and direction of a clam-shell hoisting motor, ofa controlling means for controlling a mag the circuit or" said neti'c clutch between the hoisting and opening drums and for controlling a brake for the hoisting drum, said controlling means being associated with the motor controller for operation therewith. V

41-. In a hoist, a holding drum and a clos ing drum, a magnet controlled clutehitor connectingthem together, a magnet controlled brake fol-the holding drum, a hoisting motor for raising and lowering the,

clam-shell bucket,a motor controller for controlling the hoistlng motor and controlling means for the clutch and brakeassociated with the motor controller for operation therewith.

In a hoist, a holding drum, a closing druim'a magnet operated clutch for connecting them together, a magnet operated brake for the 'holding. drum, a clam-shell bucket suspended from th drums, a hoistdrum, a magnet operated clutch for con-' necting them together, a magnetoperated brake for the-holding drum, a clam-shell bucket suspended from the drums, at hoisting motor for raising and lowering the clam-shell bucket, motor controller for the hoisting motor, a controlling means for the brake and clutch associated with the motor controller for operation therewith and 'a separate switch for controlling the circuit of the controlling means.

'7. A coal handling bridge, havinga "traveling carriage, a holding'drum and a closing drum thereon, a cable passing around both drums, a clam-shell bucket suspended thereby, a hoisting motor for raising and lowering the. clam-shell bucket, a magnet operated clutch for connecting the drums together, a magnet operated brake for the holding drum, an accelerating motor for the closing drum, amotor controller-for controlling the hoisting motor, controlling means associated with the motorcontroller for controlling the accelerating motor and the brake and the clutch, and a separate switch for openingthe'circuit of the con-' trolling means for the brake and the clutch. 8. In a coal handling bridge, a traveling carriage, a holding drum and a closing 'drum thereon, a counterweighted cable passing around both drums, a clam-shell bucket suspended thereby, an accelerating motor for the closing drum, a magnet operated clutch for connecting the drums together, a magnet operated brake'for the holding drum, a hoisting motor connected with the cable for raising and lowering the, clam-shell bucket, a" motor controller for the hoisting motor controlling means associated with the motor controller for controlling the accelerating motor and the brake and the clutch, and a push button on the handle of the motor controller for opening the min cuit of the brake and clutch.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

I THOMAS S. WATSON; Witnesses:

R. S. O. CALDWELL, I H. D. CHASE. 

